Radiant Expressions at Jehangir Art Gallery is a study in gender interactions

THE ASIAN AGE.

Published : Jan 24, 2018, 11:28 am IST

Updated : Mar 10, 2018, 10:54 am IST

Exhibition by Asit Kumar Patnaik’s recent paintings promises to showcase men and women trying to figure each other out. The exhibition that will be on from January 30 to February 5 will stay open all days from 11am to 7pm

Patnaik takes his famous relations series to a next level, moving beyond the stage where his men and women had been trying to figure each other out.

Originally hailing from Orissa, Patnaik's canvasses see figures in a constant and involved duel of animated stillness and tantalizing potentialities.

His paintings show a great deal of abandon in the figures, with liberal application of bolder and brighter hues

The painter is clearly only too aware of the various uncelebratory dimensions of male female relations and in some of his recent works this unsettling insight finds expression.

The paintings of Patnaik abstains from being judgemental, and limits himself firmly to advocating the sanity of some more self reflexivity.

The overall message seems to be that only a greater degree of introspection and self-realization can yet redeem the strained human relationships.

A fervent prayer for a brighter tomorrow permeates each of Patnaik’s recent works, even as he struggles to reflect the growing sense of loneliness of each individual amid a veritable explosion of improved technologies of interpersonal communication.

Patnaik, a MFA gold medalist from BHU, Benaras, originally hails from Orissa but now operates from New Delhi. One of the most talked about and decorated young painters in India today, he specializes in oil and acrylic on canvas, displaying great mastery over his textures and his figures.